Online Public Relations Thoughts

Daily entries on Public Relations and communications ideas and trends

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Not The Way To Do It

This story is an example of how not to conduct media relations. In an escalating war of words, a spokesperson for Mrs. Clinton told a reporter to "Fuck off." The media can be maddening. I can name individuals who cause me to shudder each time they call and whose relentless questioning is more than off-putting. These are the type of journalists who never take "no" for an answer nor do they believe you when you tell them the facts. You are always hiding something whether you are or not. Or, you are too stupid to know what is going on. Or, you are incapable of getting and giving the facts. Whatever the reporter's motivation, it grinds against you day after day and tempers eventually flare. However, the media relations person still has to control himself and to tell off the journalist politely. This is where Clinton's spokesperson failed. The net result is a story about gathering the story and a lack of honesty from the State Department. In other words, after the exchange, matters were worse than they were before. That is not the way to do it.